We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Priestly Law. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Priestly below.

Alright, Priestly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a content creator professionally, I just didn’t know the hows or the whats yet. For as long as I can remember I was always making something – drawing, writing stories, making videos. I knew I wanted to create but I felt like I had to “zone in” on something first if I really wanted to make it. Once the world opened up to the new media in social media, I realized that I could just make anything I want. It would be my art, my creations. I didn’t need to limit myself to become a content creator.

The first time I truly realized I wanted to create professionally and actually commit to it was in 2016. I hosted a panel at Awesome Con DC for “crossplaying” and genderbent cosplaying. That was the first time I really had to hone in on my public speaking skills to entertain an audience, while talking about my own journey through cosplaying and giving advice. Being able to directly work with the community that way opened my eyes, and helped me realize that I can just make things; make anything. Since then I have branched out into many creative outlets, from continuing to make costumes to making YouTube videos to streaming on Twitch to creating my whole “brand” through social media.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hey friends! My name is Priestly, and I am an Asian-American, LGBT+ cosplayer and content creator. Under the alias Cherry Cos, I have been making costumes and creating content since 2008. I have made a wide variety of costumes, from movie characters to video game characters; a lot of complex builds and fun casual outfits! Any time I find a character that I resonate with or I fall in love with their design, I immediately want to take on the challenge of building their costume. There has always been a thrill and joy in creating costumes and making memories with my friends and community. This is honestly to most fun hobby I could have!

I mainly make these costumes for fun and to attend conventions with friends, but over the years I have also dedicated my craft to engaging and working with the community. In my creative career, I have attended conventions as a guest to speak on various topics, mainly on representation in the cosplay community and giving advice about how to start cosplaying. I have also worked for events along the East Coast, working to bring to life beloved characters for children and family as a source of entertainment and inspiration.

In 2017 I branched further into entertainment by streaming video game playthroughs on Twitch! Twitch has been one of the most exciting parts of my career, meshing my love for video games and performance! It has given me a chance to engage with a larger part of the nerd community and just laugh; just have genuine fun. Now, I am a Twitch Affiliate working with various groups to promote content and games, and as of this year I am an official creator with Capcom!

It really has been a wild ride and I’m excited to see what my next turn is!

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Aside from the personal fun of making things and being with friends, my main goal in my creative career is to bring representation into the entertainment and costuming industry. I am an Asian-American raised in a mixed household from Maryland; any representation in “old” media I got was very lackluster and stereotypical. Growing up it made me feel like I had to cram myself into a box to order to be a part of the entertainment industry. Throwing in that I am plus-size and a part of the LGBT+ community, everything felt like a mess…

When I officially decided I wanted to pursue content creating as a career, I knew I needed to change that; even to just be one voice amongst the masses, because I knew there definitely were more people like me out there. I wanted to show that in cosplaying and streaming and the content creating genre as a whole, EVERYBODY is welcomed. No matter where you came from or who you are. I, as a queer, plus-size Asian-American, had a place in this industry and I wanted to be loud about that. I strive to be that person that someone in the community points out and says “they look like me!” – that is something I didn’t get the chance to feel growing up. So through everything I make and perform in, any time I have the honor of being a guest or spotlight, I always remember my goal of being that advocate and representation.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media was, and still is… and probably always will be, a wild beast to tackle. A lot of it is marketing tactics and algorithms and engagement, while still trying to showcase my work and not lose the vision. The two focuses I set as my foundation and built upon is authenticity and consistency. On all my social media accounts, I try to keep true to myself – posting my work and sharing content that I enjoy. It’s trying to find the balance between what I genuinely like and what’s “trending”; there is a middle ground and that’s what I stick with. But also to me, it’s never been about the numbers but rather the chance to interact with my online friends and just be me! And then it’s just consistent posting, which is a double edge sword but since this is a part of my passion it doesn’t bother me! What I try to do is gather a large amount of content at once, so a photo shoot with a lot of photos or filming a bunch of videos in one sitting. That way I’m set with content until the next time I am able to make more. It keeps me from being overwhelmed with the constant thought that I need to make something every single day, while also still have new content for my audience regularly!

Balancing those focuses over the years is how I formed the community I have today, and how I can keep in contact with them online!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://twitch.tv/cherrylmao
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/cherrylmao
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/cherrylmao
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/cherrycos

Image Credits
Chris Clima, Greenfield Photography, Jon V Photography, The Variant